BRANTFORD Ė Wilfrid Laurier University will be staging a critical-incident emergency simulation on its Brantford campus between 8:30 a.m. and noon on Tuesday, April 30.

The exercise will involve the Brantford Police Service, Laurierís Special Constable Service and university administrators. It is designed to allow police and university personnel to test Laurierís emergency procedures.

The exercise will be confined to the Research and Academic Centre at 150 Dalhousie St. and will not affect other buildings or areas of campus. There will be a visible and well-marked police presence involving teams of Better Enforcement Action Team (BEAT) officers in uniform. They will operate from the parking lot behind Post House Residence at 41 George St. The exercise will include a full lockdown of the Research and Academic Centre, but others buildings will remain open and accessible throughout the exercise.

Media are invited to attend the exercise. Please contact Kevin Klein at kklein@wlu.ca or 519.756.8228 ext. 5753 for details.

In the event of a real emergency on the Brantford campus, you can reach help by calling 519-756-8228 ext. 5888 or internally at ext. 5888. You can view Laurier Brantfordís emergency response plans and lockdown procedures at www.laurierbrantford.ca/emergency.

For the Waterloo campus and the Faculty of Social Work in Kitchener, you can reach emergency help by calling 519-885-3333 or internally at ext. 3333. You can view the universityís emergency response plans and lockdown procedures at www.wlu.ca/emergency.

You can also call 911 from any location.

In the event of a critical incident on a Laurier campus, such as an armed intruder, the university will activate an emergency lockdown. The lockdown will be communicated to the Laurier community in a number of ways, including email, the Laurier website, bull horns used by Special Constables, and the public address system on Special Constable Service vehicles. The university also has a new Emergency Notification System (ENS) that can send a message to all university computer screens as well as a text message to mobile phones. To register your mobile phone, visit www.wlu.ca/ens.

The Brantford exercise to increase preparedness and safety on campus may have the potential to cause anxiety or discomfort for some members of the Laurier community, particularly those individuals who have had past traumatic experiences involving an emergency response. Should a student require support in response to this exercise, please contact Counselling Services at 519.756.8228 ext. 5889 or visit the Student Wellness Centre on the second floor of the Student Centre. Staff or faculty may follow-up with the University Employee Assistance Program for support.† †